MT INBRE III has two main goals: 1) maintain and further develop the Montana network and student pipeline and utilize this network to address the unique problems Montana's rural and Native communities face in health disparities and 2) utilize its network to strengthen collaborations among Montana's rural and Native communities, TCs and other academic institutions and to make TCs a conduit for tribal health research on the reservations and PUIs conduits for rural health research. The program will support and mentor investigators from primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), research universities, and tribal colleges (TCs) through community engagement projects designed to address health disparities in Montana's rural and tribal communities. MT INBRE III will expand its partnerships with other programs and institutions in Montana and in the Western IDeA Regional Network to maximize the resources, collaborations, and opportunities available to Montana's researchers and students. The program's Specific Aims include 1) strengthening Montana's biomedical and bioinformatics infrastructure through continued development of shared facilities, research collaborations, focused working groups, and training opportunities, accomplished by continuing to support at Montana State University (MSU) the Community Engagement and Bioinformatics Cores that will serve investigators in the statewide MT INBRE III network; 2) developing a continuous pipeline for Montana's Native and non-Native students to careers in health research and increasing the scientific and technological knowledge of the state's workforce; 3) mentoring and developing health disparities investigators in the social and behavioral sciences and partnering them with infectious disease and environmental health investigators to sustain and grow an interdisciplinary biomedical research network; and Aim 4: developing and supporting sustainable research initiatives by MT INBRE III network investigators that will mitigate health disparities in Montana's rural and Native American communities.